


Sweet like Chocolate

by glitterfox19



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Getting Together, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, al is a reckless doofus, and scorpius reads too much for his own good, rose is right as always
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 12:03:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14873409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterfox19/pseuds/glitterfox19
Summary: Albus has another one of his terrible ideas, but this time Rose can't discount it for being illegal, because it technically isn't. What if he pretended to have accidentally swallowed a love potion, just to see how Scorpius would react?





	Sweet like Chocolate

**Author's Note:**

> I saw this concept on @thealmostrhetoricalquestion's blog and I just had to write it! Also, this is the verse I dreamt up where Rose stayed with Al and Scorpius, so this is non-canon compliant and pretty much none of Cursed Child happened.

“Albus, this is one of your worst ideas to date,” Rose fumes. “And that’s counting the time you tried to drag me and Scorp off of the Hogwarts Express to try and turn back time. Thank goodness I had enough sense to talk you out of it, which is what I’m trying to do now.”

“Well, when you put it like that,” Albus reasons, leaning against the headboard of his bed, “this idea doesn’t sound so bad after all. I’m not even doing anything illegal! Just...pretending I did. Is all.”

“I don’t know why I listen to you in the first place,” Rose mutters darkly. She stares out one of the windows, and the green lighting illuminates her freckles. Then, she folds her arms and sighs. “I suppose since you’re not actually using a love potion, it’s not that bad.”

“There’s the Ravenclaw reasoning I’m used to!” Albus exclaims, sitting up. “So will you help me out?”

Rose narrows her eyes, and Albus deflates. “Just because I don’t think your plan is illegal or possibly damaging doesn’t mean I condone it, Albus. Think about Scorpius.”

“No need to tell me twice,” Albus quips, but Rose’s words lodge in his chest, between his ribs. He’s always thinking of Scorpius. That’s the problem. He’d never thought twice about the way he stared at Scorpius, or how lovingly and highly he spoke of him to others, but one early morning, before Hogsmeade, Scorpius had been brushing his hair and Albus just knew.

_“Albus?” Scorpius had said, turning towards the other boy. Albus had a slack-jawed expression on his face, like he had just discovered a new use for dragon blood. He stood in the middle of the dormitory, staring at Scorpius' head. Scorpius touched it absently to make sure that there was nothing hideous in it leftover from Potions (but that had only been once!) Satisfied that nothing was wrong, he returned to his task of getting Albus to focus. It took quite a bit of snapping fingers to get Albus' attention._

_“Albus?” Scorpius tried again. Albus’ head snapped up, finally, but his dazed look didn’t clear. Scorpius wasn’t sure if he was turning green out of illness or due to the odd lighting in the Slytherin dorm rooms._

_“I have to go,” Albus said. “I think I’m going to be sick.” He had, indeed, started to run, but not towards the common bathrooms. In fact, he had elected to sprint out of the dormitory entirely. Scorpius had blinked after him, Albus’ name on his lips._

“Are you sure you want to do this?” She says, cocking her head to the side. Albus winces. He knows it’s not the best, from an ethical standpoint, but it will ease the aching sensation in his chest. 

“It’s just a harmless prank. Just to… help work up my courage before the real thing,” Albus says, twisting his fingers. Rose turns towards him, and she’s got the sweetest, saddest expression on her face and it nearly makes him scream. “You’re radiating pity.”

Rose bristles, and the feeling is wiped from her face. “Am not.”

“Are too,” Albus counters, and they’re bickering like children all over again. They don’t even hear the door of the Slytherin dorms swing open until someone yells, “Shut it, you two!” 

“Hi, Asshat,” Albus says in return, grinning. Alex, a dark-skinned boy in their year, snorts in his general direction.

“You’ll never believe what this girl gave to me today,” he says. Albus props his chin up with his elbows and wiggles his eyebrows at the other boy. 

“What?” Albus says.

“Chocolate Frogs,” Alex says, his voice dripping with horror. Rose and Albus share a look. Rose is biting her lip to contain her laughter, and Albus has a hand clasped over his mouth. Alex tends to have a flair for the dramatic, but his expressions, combined with how perfectly timed this fiasco is, are enough to make the two start giggling at a highly inopportune time. Albus tries to don an air of sympathy. 

“And what… what is wrong with that?” Rose asks.

“She said,” Alex says, covering his face with his hands, “that she wants to take a bite out of some of my chocolate.”

That’s all it takes to send Rose and Albus into peals of hysterical laughter. Alex is far too distressed about the situation with the girl to join in. Albus is clutching his sides and Rose is flopped over on Albus’ bed, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

“My chocolate!” Alex says again. Albus makes an inhuman sound that sounds like a cross between joy and pain. 

“Can I have them, then?” Rose says. The boy passes the box to her, struck mute by the utter hilarity and ridiculousness of the situation. Rose then hand the box to Albus, sighing and shaking her head.

“They’re not Cauldron Cakes,” Albus points out. “But they’ll do.”

“You didn’t get this from me,” Rose says, standing up. “I had nothing to do with this dastardly plan of yours if someone ends up with a broken heart.”

Albus kisses Rose on the cheek quickly before dashing out of the Slytherin dorm. “I knew you were my favorite cousin for a reason, Rosie-O. Wish me luck!”

The door swings shut behind Albus. Rose stares after him, clucking her tongue like an exasperated mother, before following. 

*

It’s lunchtime. Albus counts down the seconds until Scorpius is due to arrive at the Slytherin table. His hands are sweating. The box of Chocolate Frogs stays under his seat, as almost an afterthought. 

Thirty-one seconds, thirty, twenty-nine… He stirs the food around his plate. His appetite has suddenly deserted him. So what, he tells himself. Don’t freak out. It’s not real. It’s a dry run. Practice test. There’s nothing at stake here.

But what if I’m not convincing enough? There, he thought it. He exhales loudly and slowly, sitting up straighter in his seat. Albus had studied the book on Amortentia for hours to remember all the symptoms associated with it. Luckily enough, it wasn’t that hard; it was all stuff Albus did already. Like excessively sweat around the object of his affection. And obsess.

“Hi, Albus!” Scorpius says, sliding into the seat next to him. “Oh, are those mashed potatoes? Can I have some?”

“Sure!” Albus says, his voice bright with false cheer. “I’m about done with lunch, anyway. I was going to open up some candies this Hufflepuff girl brought me earlier…”

“Oh wow!” Scorpius’ eyes flash at the size of the box. “Can I have one?” He’s already reaching out a hand to try a sweet. Albus bats it away, guilt ballooning in his ribcage.

“No!” he says. Scorpius face falls, and Albus quickly tries to rectify the situation, cursing this stupid idea to Hell and back. Why, why, why did I ever think this was a good idea? Rose is right, as per usual. “These are my first chocolates from a real live actual girl. Let me enjoy a few first!”

“Fine,” Scorpius says, straightening up almost immediately. He shrugs off his negative emotions like they’re an itchy shawl. Albus envies his ability to have such constant, buoyed optimism. 

Albus grabs the box from under his seat, his heart pounding. He unseals a Frog and pops it into his mouth. Under his breath, he surreptitiously casts a Pallor Charm, and watches the way the skin on the back of his hand turns paler. 

“Hey Albus?” Scorpius says, concern on his face. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Albus says. He shakes himself, and then turns towards Scorpius, beaming. “Have I told you recently how exceptionally beautiful you are?” It takes all of his nerve to prevent himself from cringing at the forwardness of his words, but he needs to be convincing for this to work. 

Scorpius does a double take. He reaches his hand to touch Albus’ forehead, but Albus grabs it and kisses his knuckles before holding on tightly. Scorpius sighs and tries, in vain, to release his hand from Albus’ grasp.

“Damn,” Scorpius whispers. He stands up, but finds that it is exceptionally hard to wrestle himself from Albus. People are starting to stare at the duo. “Albus. Albus, you need to let go. We need to go to Madam Pomfrey.”

“I’m in love with you, Scorpius,” Albus says, breathlessly. The exhilaration is getting to him. A crazy part of him just wants to admit that this isn’t an act, that he’s actually, really in love with Scorpius, but he doesn’t have enough Gryffindor in him. 

Scorpius winces, and manages to withdraw his hand. “Albus, that’s nice of you to say,” he says carefully. The way he’s looking at Albus makes something delicate break inside. Or rather, the way he’s not looking at Albus. Scorpius elects to look at Albus’ chin instead. “But I know that’s not really you talking. Someone must’ve figured out a way to manufacture remote Love Potions, and slipped one to you.” A strange look crosses his face. "I don't understand why a girl would want you to fall in love with me, though. That seems..." he trails off, and for a moment, Albus is worried that Scorpius' has figured him out.

“Can I kiss you?” Albus says, grabbing Scorpius by the shoulders. He leans in, more aiming for a hug, when Scorpius catches his face to stop him. The whole Great Hall is chattering now. There’s two girls standing some distance away and pointing. 

“We really should go to the Pomfrey, Albus,” Scorpius says, in the gentle tone he reserves for firsties and injured creatures that Hagrid finds. “She’ll make you go back to normal.”

“This is normal, Scorpius,” Albus says, and he means it so much it hurts. Scorpius just takes his hand and drags him towards the staircase.

Out of the corner of his eye, Albus sees Rose standing in the middle of the Great Hall. She’s pointed in their direction and looks as though she might follow them, but when she sees Albus’ face, her face morphs into a frown. She does a half-wave at him, her eyes betraying her dismay. So much for a promise of no pity.

Scorpius looks like someone kicked his pet Crup. "No, it's just. It's just a cruel prank. It's rather mean-spirited, but we'll figure out who did this and we'll set it right, yeah?"

"This is right, Scorpius," Albus presses. "I've never felt more right than I do right now." Scorpius looks even more downtrodden, if that's possible.

The whole walk there, Albus makes sure to say every thought that comes to mind. “You’re so thoughtful and kind.” “You’re so pretty.” “You’re so tall.” Nothing seems to make Scorpius brighten. Albus feels his hope deflating. Rose was right, once again. This is a terrible idea. How could Scorpius ever like him back? 

Unprompted, Scorpius grimaces and mumbles, “Dad's right. I'm too smart for my own good." Albus wishes he weren’t playing at this so ferociously, and then he could ask Scorpius what’s up. But he can’t, so he just leans into Scorpius’ side in an effort to communicate what he’s really thinking. Scorpius stiffens like a board and gently pushes him away, and Albus' heart sinks past the floorboards.

When they get there, Madam Pomfrey has her arms outstretched towards Albus. “Poor Albus, can’t imagine who would do such a thing to you,” she coos. “Don’t worry, the effects will wear off soon once you take this Potion.”

Scorpius heads towards the door. Albus really means it when he wails, “Don’t leave me!” The blond-headed Slytherin turns back, just for a moment, and waves sheepishly, before heading out the door. 

Pomfrey has him swallow something disgusting. Albus is starting to wonder if this escapade was worth it. It looks like he just ended up hurting himself.

"Eugh, that's vile," he says. And then he makes a big show of widening his eyes and waving his arms. "What did I say to Scorpius? Oh Merlin, please tell me that was all a dream. Please." Pomfrey smiles at him warmly and shakes her head.

"Unfortunately not, Mr. Potter," she tells him. "You better go find him and apologize for putting him through that. Poor boy. It was nice of him to walk you up here, though. Would you like a Chocolate Frog for the way back to the dorms? I've got quite a few extra around here." She gets up and begins picking up papers, presumably searching for the elusive treat that Albus currently has no stomach for.

"Er, no thanks," Albus says, already getting up from bed. "I'll just. Be on my way now! Thanks so much!" He half-sprints out of the door before she can turn around and force-feed him any chocolate.

He barely makes it out the doorway before he's accosted by a small huddle of students, all shouting questions about the ordeal in his face.

"Albus! Is it true that Scorpius slipped you a Love Potion!" a Slytherin yells. Albus shakes his head vehemently.

A few elect to simply laugh at his misfortune, and he sends an impressive scowl their way. Someone asks if he knows where Scorpius got the Love Potion from, and he swears before raising his voice to broadcast throughout the corridor. "It was a new type of Love Potion called a Remote Love Potion. Someone wanted to meddle with my love life and make me artificially fall in love with someone. Pretty awful thing to do. I wouldn't recommend it."

Finally, at long last, he reaches the dungeons. He keeps his head down in the Common Room, not wanting to meet anyone’s eyes. Finally he stops in front of the door marked SIXTH YEAR BOYS. He hears a loud commotion coming from within, so Albus presses his ear to the door. It’s muffled, at first, but soon he’s able to make out some words.

“-anyway, I’ve been doing my reading.” Albus’ heart falls into his stomach. That’s Scorpius, for sure. He takes a deep breath and moves to push on the door, but someone else starts talking before he has the chance to.

“I’m sure it will be okay, Scorpius,” Rose says softly. 

“It won’t,” Scorpius says viciously. Albus has never heard Scorpius sound so angry in his entire life. He starts planning how to avoid seeing the blond boy ever again; he can sneak into the Ravenclaw dorms and share a bed with Rose - no, wait, that’s kind of gross and the Tower doesn’t let boys into the girl’s side - wait, but he’s gay, so maybe it would? - “Because love potions don’t work if you already love the person.”

“Maybe he only likes you,” Rose presses on. “Maybe he’s not in love.”

“It’s the same,” Scorpius mumbles. "It doesn't matter. He doesn't feel that way about me."

Albus screws up his face in concentration. What does Scorpius mean? Does he mean what he thinks he does? Albus tries to press his ear against the door further to get a better understanding of what they're saying, but he ends up leaning his full weight against the door. It opens, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground in the dormitory. When the stars clear from his eyes, he sees Rose and Scorpius both standing over him. Rose offers him a hand.

“Alright, cuz?” she asks. When she leans down to pull him up, she whispers, “I told you so.”

“Not the time, Rosie.” Albus says. “I need to talk to Scorpius.” Scorpius jerks forward like he’s being tugged by an invisible string and stares at Albus. His eyes are red-rimmed and his cheeks are flushed. Rose looks at the two boys and shakes her head.

“Albus,” she tries to say quietly. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“I think it’s a great one,” Albus says, with an air of false bravado, pretending that his fingers aren’t shaking. He clenches his hands into fists. “Yeah, Scorpius?”

Scorpius looks like a deer caught in headlights. Rose draws in one final breath before clapping Albus on the shoulder as means of farewell. When the door closes behind her, they’re the only two left in the room.

They pause and just look at one another for a long moment. Finally, Albus decides that he needs to clear the air.

“I’m sorry-” "Albus-" They both talk simultaneously. Albus chuckles, but there's no real humor in his words. "Scorp, let me go first. I promise I can explain-" 

“No, Albus." Scorpius draws himself up to his full height. Albus finds himself shrinking back. "I think I should. Do you have any idea how awful that was of you?"

“Scorpius, I’m so sorry-"

"Let me finish." Scorpius' words start to sound like a snarl, but they catch in his throat. Albus realizes he's still crying. "All these rumors flying. Scorpius slipped Albus a Love Potion. He's so desperate to get with the Chosen One's son because his daddy didn't get the chance. Someone said I was after your Galleons. People only stopped thinking I was Voldemort's son a few months ago, Albus," and Scorpius' voice breaks. He drags the back of his hand across his face roughly. "I've been cornered in the hallways. Half the people want to know what recipe I used, and the other half want to beat me up. The only reason I'm here in one piece is because of your cousin." 

"Scorpius-"

"Pretty awful thing to do," Scorpius says, and Albus pales. It's a poor imitation of Albus' voice from earlier, when he had been harassed relentlessly after leaving the Hospital Wing. "I wouldn't recommend it." The blond boy runs his hands through his hair, and Albus notices that they're shaking. He wants to hold them. He wants to make things right and throw his body against the wall. Oh Merlin, what was he thinking?

"My head's been up my ass for as long as I can remember."

"Tell me something I don't know," Scorpius says and narrows his eyes, glaring down at Albus. Albus knows he's trying to be intimidating, but his eyes are too pretty and his hair looks too soft and Albus can't bring himself to care about anything other than the fact that he's screwed up, and he needs to make it right.

"I clearly forget how to think straight when I'm around you. Pun intended, I guess," Albus says. "See? You even have me saying puns. Scorp, I'm. I'm in love with you, I think. It's always been like this. It's always only been you." Scorpius sucks in a deep breath and opens his mouth, but Albus keeps going. "You're wondering, then, why the Love Potion worked on me. Well, it wasn't a real Love Potion at all. I got secondhand Chocolate Frogs from Alex this morning and made a show out of pretending that they were dosed with Amortentia." 

“You stupid, stupid Slytherin," Scorpius says. He slugs Albus in the arm. Albus registers the pain, but only briefly.

"I know it's going to take forever to make this up to you, and we can pretend this never happened, and that I don't have these feelings for you, because I don't think you feel the same way, and that's okay. But I just thought that you should know what happened, and I'm so stupid and so sorry, and Rose told me not to do this in the first place but obviously I don't know how to listen, so you can hate me if you-" 

Something warm and wet is moving against his mouth. It's Scorpius. Albus remembers at the at the last moment to close his eyes. It's a bit sloppy, and a lot more saliva ends up on their chins than staying in their mouths. Their teeth click together, but only once. It's the best thing that Albus has ever experienced in his whole life. He's confident that he could produce a Patronus using this memory. He's certain that it's the best first kiss in the history of first kisses.

When they separate, Albus encircles his arms around Scorpius' neck. Scorpius keeps his head bowed, and their foreheads touch. "Don't think I've forgiven you," Scorpius warns, and Albus starts to freak out again, until he adds, "You're going to have to take me on one thousand dates before I'll forgive you permanently."

"Only a thousand?" Albus teases. Scorpius settles his hands on Albus' waist. "You drive a hard bargain, mister. But I accept your challenge." Scorpius closes his eyes once more, and Albus leans in.

(When they go back to the Great Hall for dinner, Alex claims the Chocolate Frogs back and eats one. Suddenly, he won’t shut up about this Hufflepuff girl - Melinda? Melinda something? - in the year below. Scorpius turns to Albus in shock.

Later that evening, Scorpius pulls out a book on potions from under his bed, and turns to the page on Love Potions. They read the page together. “These potions won’t work if used on someone who is already in love with you,” Scorpius narrates, “or if used on someone who is already passionately, irrevocably, and unchangeably in love with someone else. In that case, move on to someone else.”

Albus kisses Scorpius on the cheek. “See,” he says. “Of course I’m in love with you.”

Rose crinkles her nose and crosses her arms. “You guys are disgusting,” she tells them. “Get a room.”

“We’re the ones who are actually in our dorm rooms,” Scorpius says pointedly. She storms out of the Slytherin dorms, muttering about how Scorpius should be a Ravenclaw if he wants to be so snarky. Albus laughs and draws Scorpius back in for another kiss, the textbook quickly forgotten.)


End file.
